A doctor who fled war to settle in Wales says immigration rules are stopping him working here.

Dr Hermann Thierry Grah, 38, fled the Ivory Coast in 2011 during the war that erupted after the 2010 presidential election.

As a member of the presidential medical team, Dr Grah and his family were persecuted by the new regime.

His house was ransacked, his wife and children tortured.

He fled and first found a new home in London where he tried to ways to return to medicine. He found a scheme run by the Wales Deanery but wasn’t eligible for the Wales Asylum seeker and Refugee Doctors, as he didn’t live in Wales.

He was desperate to get back to work as “medicine is my life” and by chance was later told he would be moved to Newport.

Dr Grah has retrained since arriving in Wales (Image: Rob Browne)

Since coming to Wales, he has sat and passed all the required exams and is now qualified to practice in the UK but he is unable to work because he is an asylum seeker and doesn’t have the right to work.

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“I am ready to treat patients in Wales’ hospitals but I haven’t got the right to do so. I am ready to help ease the pressure on the Welsh NHS, but I’m still an asylum seeker with the right to do nothing,” said Dr Grah.

“For me, it’s like being in a prison in my mind because I can’t do my job.

“When you decide to go into medicine it’s like you decide to give your life to other people.

“Now I can’t practice so I have been left feeling like I’m worth nothing.

Dr Grah lives in Newport with his pregnant wife and son.

“I have had great support from Wales. That has allowed me to really integrate in the community and feel part of it”.

Chair of the Welsh Refugee Coalition Rocio Cifuentes said: “The personal stories shared by brave and inspiring individuals at the Senedd show that arrival here in Wales is the start of another journey. This journey can be made much easier through the provision of effective support services and a hand of friendship by local communities.

“A more human-focussed immigration system would enable people such as Hermann, Prudence and Godwin to settle in quicker, to rebuild their lives and to fully contribute to a Wales they now call home.”